RU 11. Association of HPA-1 and VEGF expression and microvessel density in adrenocortical carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the expressions of Heparanase-1 (HPA-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) as well as the relationship of HPA-1 and VEGF with microvessel density (MVD).

Methods: The expressions of HPA-1, VEGFR-2, VEGF and MVD were detected by immunohistochemical staining in 20 cases with adrenocortical adenoma and 24 with adrenocortical carcinoma.

Results: HPA-1 staining was seen in 91.67% (22/24) of the malignant cases versus 15.00% (3/20) of the benign, with significant difference (P<0.01); VEGF expressed highly in the ACC group (17/24, 70.83%) and lowly in the benign group(5/20, 25.00%), with significant difference (PP<0.05); A total of 19 of 24 (79.17%) malignant cases showed positive staining for VEGFR-2 and 5 of 20 (25.00%) benign cases showed positive, with significant difference (PP<0.05). MVD in adrenocortical carcinoma was higher than those in adrenocortical adenoma (84.70±12.44 vs. 21.05±8.07), with significant difference (PP<0.05).

Conclusions: The high expression of HPA-1, VEGF and VEGFR-2 in ACC contribute to tumor angiogenesis, which provide the theoretical evidence for anti-angiogenesis regime in ACC.